Her Older Sheikh (Sheikh Breaks My Heart #9)

Chapter Two

" S orry to keep you waiting."

The spell between us breaks when a waiter shows up out of nowhere to hand each of us a menu. I feel a little self-conscious all of a sudden, and I quickly open the menu to hide my face behind it.

What now, self?

My brain says one thing, but my heart says another. It's crazy enough that I'm yearning for someone like him, but it's even crazier that Mr. Mine actually wants me back. I know there's every chance his desire for me is a one-off thing, and that my novelty can wear off the moment he gets what he wants.

I know that.

But still.

He's the kind of man who can have any girl he wants, but isn't it just the craziest thing that he's been looking at me like I'm as unreachable as a star?

Why, Mr. Mine?

Is it my virginity?

My age?

Maybe even my race?

The waiter asks me if I'm ready to order, and I manage to utter something coherent even as my mind continues to spin. I think I asked for some toast and avocado shake, or at least I hope I did. It's just so hard to think, and it gets even harder when it's Mr. Mine's turn to give his order, and the sound of his lovely, deep, dark voice has my toes curling anew.

Oh, Mr. Mine.

Will there ever come a day I won't find you sexy?

The waiter finally leaves, and he takes with him the menu I've been using as shield. Tiger-gold eyes find me right away, and l can't help but respond to the sheer sexual heat of his presence.

Everything about him enthralls me the way no other guy has. Boys back home seem like toddlers when I compare them to him, and even those slick, smooth-talking Miami guys that my grandfather has occasionally set me up with don't stand a chance.

Mr. Mine makes all of them look like sissies, and just sitting next to him has my heart thumping wildly against my chest. I try to shift around in my seat when the restlessness stirring up inside of me becomes unbearable, but this only backfires as my knee accidentally bumps into his leg, and my lust immediately threatens to overflow.

Animal magnetism, I can't help thinking yet again, and this time the meaning reaches deeper into my skin, and all I can do is squeeze my legs shut as tightly as I can.

"You shouldn't be looking at me like that."

The suddenness of his words startle me, but it's the roughness of his tone that makes something hot and forbidden unfurl inside my body, and I find myself yearning once again to tell him things that I find secretly cute, awesome, and kinky.

Do you know, Mr. Mine...

Only porn and smutty books used to turn me on, but you're the first flesh-and-blood male to make me feel like this.

Just you and no one else.

But since I still lack the courage and confidence to say such things, all I can do is clear my throat and ask, "How exactly am I looking at you?"

"You're looking at me like you fucking want to eat me."

My lips part, but nothing comes out.

You have such a way with words, Mr. Mine. You really do.

"Have I shocked you?"

The thickness of his voice enslaves me, and the way his whole being is now pulsing with raw masculinity has my pussy tightening with desire.

You wanted to shock me, Mr. Mine.

You know you did.

And in truth, it's only now that I'm finally starting to understand just how different the two of us are, and how I'm nothing but this tiny little fish swimming against the tide of his experience.

"I have, haven't I?"

"You did."

He sucks his breath at the way I whispered the words.

"And I like it."

A moment passes, and then his tiger-gold eyes are glittering at me with desire so flagrantly carnal, it almost feels like he's actually turned into this big, scary wildcat that's about to pounce and eat me alive.

"You surprise me," he says huskily.

"Have I?"

"I thought I'd have scared you off by now."

I shake my head.

No, Mr. Mine.

I don't scare easily at all.

Another almost-smirk plays over his lips, and the sight makes me want to writhe.

He's right, after all.

I do want to eat him, and I know it's so because I have this sudden urge to trace the outline of his smirk with my tongue.

Behave, self!

The waiter comes back almost on cue to serve us our orders, and I have no idea whether this sudden reprieve makes me feel cheated or relieved.

See how you confuse me, Mr. Mine?

I take a bite of my toast, and I have this crazy urge to laugh when I realize that all this flirting has me hungry. I've eaten the whole thing up in minutes, and it's only when I reach for my shake that I see Mr. Mine has barely touched his plate...since he's been watching me the entire time.

"You made me hungry," I say defensively.

"Have I?"

Mr. Mine's sly tone makes me remember what he said earlier—-

You're looking at me like you fucking want to eat me.

And it's enough to make my cheeks turn red.

"I meant, for food!"

"Of course."

"It's all this flirting we've been doing," I explain in a rush. "I'm not used to it."

"You speak as if this is the first time you've ever flirted with a man."

"It is."

"I doubt that."

I give him a look of hurt. "I'm not lying."

"Then it must be because you're too young—-"

"Or maybe you're just too irresistible?"

His gaze narrows. "Can I ask you something?"

The abruptness of his question makes me feel guarded, and I look at him warily. "It depends on what you want to know."

Mr. Mine actually appears surprised, and I look at him chidingly in return. I may be a good girl having her first taste of real-life lust, but that doesn't make me an idiot who'll suddenly hand over my ATM pin.

I take a peek at his expression, wondering if I might have offended him, but Mr. Mine seems to have relaxed, and the lightning-change of his mood makes me feel rather dizzy.

"Tell me then," he invites in a tone so thick, the sound has lust slithering over my folds. "What kind of question are you unwilling to answer?"

"Oh, you know," I say airily. "Just the usual."

His almost-smirk flashes over his lips. "I still make you nervous, don't I?"

"Only because I'm new to all this while you..."

"Me?"

"You're very..." A dozen words pop in my mind, but all of them are terribly inappropriate, and I end up saying exactly that. "... inappropriate ."

I kinda thought that would make him laugh, or maybe even have him want to flirt with me some more if I'm lucky, but all he does is stare at me broodingly.

Not good, self.

I keep reading him wrong, and that's honestly starting to worry me. Is this the universe's way of telling me Mr. Mine is out of my league, and that staying with him will only lead to misery?

"Are you thinking of staying away from me?"

The words turn my entire world upside down, and it suddenly hurts to look at him. While I can't seem to get anything right about him, Mr. Mine is the opposite. He reads me like a book, and won't that make me boring in his eyes?

"Should I?"

The words are out before I even realize what I'm saying, but it turns out to be a blessing in disguise as they catch Mr. Mine off guard, and emotion flashes over his face.

Anger .

It lasts only for a moment, but even though his beautiful face is now expressionless, I know what I saw.

I know what it means .

The thought of me staying away actually angers him, and just as my face breaks into a smile, a scowl darkens his beautiful features, and he growls at me for the first time.

"Don't."

But I'm too giddy to be intimidated. "Don't what?"

" This is how it all starts," he warns. "A moth attracted to a flame—-"

Oh, Mr. Mine.

Don't you know by now that the more you push me away, the more I want to get closer?

"Until fire licks its wings—-"

I know the words are supposed to scare me, but it's just too late. He's already taken me hostage without knowing it—-

"And its whole world burns."

I'm already yours, Mr. Mine.

And now there's no turning back.

"I know what you're doing," I say softly, "and it's not working. You can make me burn to death, and I'll love every moment of it."

Mr. Mine's fist clenches over the table. "You're obviously too young to understand what you're asking for. You don't even know me—-"

"I don't care. I just want you to be mine—-"

Mr. Mine stiffens in his seat.

"And I want you to make me yours."

I say the words like it's my utmost plea, and I do so because I mean it.

I say it because I want this.

Because I want him. .

I want everything with him, but when Mr. Mine suddenly jerks to his feet, I suddenly feel like I've pushed him too hard—-

"You should just forget about me."

And now everything's about to fall apart.

"Wait—-"

But he's already turned away, and I start to panic.

"Wait, please—-"

But he doesn't even look back as he walks away, and I run after him without hesitation.

"Did I say something wrong?"

I plant myself in front of him to block his way to the doors.

"Did I do anything—-"

"It's not you," Mr. Mine says grimly. "You did nothing wrong. It's all me."

A choked laugh escapes me even as my heart squeezes at his words. "You do know that's a breakup line, right?"

All I want is for him to smile, but all he does is stare at me like I really am a star that he can't ever hold on to.

"Perhaps in another life..."

Why does he keep pushing me away when we both know he wants me just as much as I want him?

"If we were to meet in another life, it would have been my pleasure to let you eat me."